Forward Risk Management Limited

The Competition Commission of Mauritius ('CCM') has extended the leniency programme to initiators and coercers of cartels. Mr Deshmuk Kowlessur who is the Executive Director of the CCM commented that the measure is pro-active and "in-line with our aim to enhance competition by dismantling cartels".

The Competition Commission of Mauritius ('CCM') has extended the leniency programme to initiators and coercers of cartels. Mr Deshmuk Kowlessur who is the Executive Director of the CCM commented that the measure is pro-active and "in-line with our aim to enhance competition by dismantling cartels".

The Financial Action Task Force said that it has taken on changes to its standards that would cover firms involved in virtual currencies, such as exchanges, wallet providers and the providers of financial services for initial coin offerings. 

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The FATF, based in Paris, is known for setting standards for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules, stated that these firms should be licensed or registered and subject to monitoring by regulators.

The FATF added : " “There is an urgent need for all countries to take coordinated action to prevent the use of virtual assets for crime and terrorism."

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It also said that Countries should ensure that these service providers are subject to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations, such as the requirements to perform due diligence, transaction monitoring and the reporting of suspicious activity.

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​“As part of a staged approach, the FATF will prepare updated guidance on a risk-based approach to regulating virtual asset service providers, including their supervision and monitoring; and guidance for operational and law enforcement authorities on identifying and investigating illicit activity involving virtual assets,” the FATF said.

Britain’s largest companies need to improve their corporate reporting and eliminate basic errors, according to a review of 220 annual and interim reports for the 2017-18 financial year conducted by the Financial Reporting Council. 

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The United Kingdom regulator for reporting, accounting and audit on Wednesday stated that judgments, estimate disclosures and cash-flow statements are the biggest source of concern in reports by companies in the FTSE 350, followed by the use of alternative performance measures.

His words were : "“We were...disappointed to see a rise in basic errors and non-compliance in a few areas of reporting"

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The findings come ahead of Britain’s 2019 exit from the European Union and amid increased examinations by lawmakers and regulators over the quality of reporting, accounting and audit. This follows a number of high-profile company failures including that of outsourcing and construction company Carillion PLC this year.

Island Premier Traders FX Ltd was granted a Foreign Exchange Dealer Licence under section 14 (5) of the Banking Act 2004 (Act) to carry on the business of foreign exchange dealer in Mauritius on last December 2009. Island Premier Traders FX Ltd applied for and was, on 7 August 2013, granted approval for the company to change its name from Island Premier Traders FX Ltd to Island Premier Foreign Exchange Ltd. A new licence was  then granted to Island Premier Foreign Exchange Ltd on 4 September 2014.

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Under the powers conferred upon it by section 17(1)(b) of the Act, the Bank has, with effect from 4 October 2018, revoked the Foreign Exchange Dealer Licence granted to Island Premier Foreign Exchange Ltd.

The public is informed that Island Premier Foreign Exchange Ltd is no longer authorised to carry on the business of foreign exchange dealer as from 4 October 2018.

As from the 28th to 30th November 2018, Mauritius is said to host the World Artificial Intelligence Show (AI) and World Blockchain Summit. They aim to identify opportunities for the deployment in the different sectors of the country's economy. 

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Furthermore, during a press conference, at the SICOM tower in Ebene, the minister of Technology, communication and Innovation namely Mr Yogida Sawmynaden, elaborated on the event. The senior economic adviser,  Prime Minister’s Office, Mr George Chung Tick Kan; the Group Chief Strategy Officer, Trescon, Mr Sanjiv Singh; the Managing Partner, Trescon Mauritius, Mr Vishal Seeboruth; and, the CEO of the Economic Development Board (EDB), Mr François Guibert, also attended the conference. 

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The event is said to take place on three continuous days and is being organised by the Ministry of Technology Communication and Innovation, in collaboration with the EDB and Trescon Global.  The World AI Show will have as confirmed speaker line-up the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth. 

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​Minister Sawmynaden stated that given the fact that Mauritius wants to become an inclusive and high-income country it is important to foster a new generation of technopreneurs who master emerging technologies such as AI and Blockchain.

Two former Deutsche Bank AG traders were found guilty of trying to rig a key lending benchmark that was assumed to be one of the most vital barometers of the world’s financial health.

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Matthew Connolly, who led Deutsche Bank's pool trading desk in New York, and Gavin Campbell, a former a former derivatives trader who worked on the bank's London desk, were convicted recently on conspiracy and wire fraud charges following a month long trial in Manhattan Federal Court.

WASHINGTON—A federal court ordered a New York trading firm to pay $2.5 million in fines and restitution for orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded a minimum of atleast  80 customers who believed that they were investing in bitcoin.

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed charges in this particular anti fraud case related to bitcoin in September 2017. The court ruled that Staten Island-based  Gelfman Blueprint Inc. and its chief executive, Nicolas Gelfman, solicited more than $600,000 from retail investors between 2014-2016.

The International Association of Insolvency Regulators (IAIR) Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting took place a few days back at the Sugar Beach Resort, Flic en Flac, in presence of the Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mr Dharmendar Sesungkur, the IAIR Chair, Registrar of Companies, and Director of Insolvency Service, Mrs Prabha Chinien, and other personalities.

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This year's theme was " Sharing International insolvency trends and developments". This conference attracted participants from 26 jurisdictions which aims at providing the platform to meet fellow regulators, share common issues and as well as to have the opportunity to network while learning more about the best practices around the world. 

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The Minister highlighted that a well-regulated backdrop with best practices attuned to international standards, including strong insolvency are a must in order to achieve Government’s vision of doubling the contribution of the financial services sector to Gross Domestic Product. He also added that tests and trials facing insolvency professionals have significantly escalated over the past decade, whether in scale or form, owing to a fast-evolving global economic landscape and the rapid globalisation of trade.

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As from the 29th to the 31st of October 2018, a National Capacity Building Workshop on Countering the Financing of Terrorism through effective National and Regional Actions will be organized by the Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance with the assistance of the United Nations Counter Terrorism Centre.

One of the main objective of the workshop is considered to train the local stakeholders on the requirements set out by the United Nations Security Council in the fight against terrorism and terrorist financing.

Furthermore, those participating will benefit from an enhanced understanding of international sanctions objectives, strategic advantages, best practices on implementation and terrorist financing typologies which can be structured through collaboration and financial investigations.

As bonus point, Resource persons from the UN office of Counter Terrorism will be present at the workshop providing their help.

The IFM and the World Bank team will be in Mauritius by the end of this year to assist the island on enhancing financial stability, facilitating access to finance and addressing risk management. Both of their assistance was requested by the Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mr Dharmendar Sesungkur. 

Furthermore, a meeting took place between some Mauritian officials and the Director of the Finance, Competitiveness and and Innovation (FCI) Global Practice of the World Bank, Mr Alfonso Garcia Mora, who pointed our the measures that can be embraced in order to further strengthen the financial sector so as to increase stability, soundness and transparency. 

During their discussion, Mr Mora also put much emphasis on on the benefits of putting up a well planned centralized KYC in line with the relevant norms and practices and using digitalized information system comprising of  high level IT security as well as a backup system.

2,010 suspicious transactions have been reported to the Financial Intelligence centre (FIC) from banking and non banking financial institutions on suspected money laundering cases from 2010 to 2016. 

The Centre has communicated 787 out of the 2,010 reports to various law enforcement agencies for necessary actions to be taken. Ghana, where corruption has been common since its independence, has, since 2014 prosecuted and convicted 11 persons for money laundering offences and other related crimes. 

The combating of  terrorist financing is no more considered to be a mere issue in Mauritius. Terrorist Financing is considered to be a serious and growing threat as well as a phenomenon which has been present in every part of the world for ages. For many years now, Mauritius has also been exposed to this problem. As nowadays more financial products and markets are emerging and there has been an increase in activities in the financial sector, thus they become possible targets for financial abuse. Following several events, Terrorist Financing is found to be a critical issue and it has likely devastating economic, security and social impact.

At the heart of this fights, are banking institutions. Undoubtedly, it is becoming more and more challenging for banks to deal with this problem. Through out its fights against terrorist financing the Bank of Mauritius has recently published "The Prevention Of Terrorism (special Measures) Regulations" as a way to ensure the Financial Stability of the island.

The Competition Commission of Mauritius ('CCM') has extended the leniency programme to initiators and coercers of cartels. Mr Deshmuk Kowlessur who is the Executive Director of the CCM commented that the measure is pro-active and "in-line with our aim to enhance competition by dismantling cartels".

The Competition Commission of Mauritius ('CCM') has extended the leniency programme to initiators and coercers of cartels. Mr Deshmuk Kowlessur who is the Executive Director of the CCM commented that the measure is pro-active and "in-line with our aim to enhance competition by dismantling cartels".

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission accused Rio Tinto of not following proper practices including the when write coal assets it had bought in Mozambique for USD3.7bn in 2011, while it was raising roughly USD5.5bn.

Qualcomm must pay EUR997m as payments to Apple to ensure only its chips were used in iPhones and iPads was deemed illegal by EU Competition Commission.

Brazil court upholds ex-President Lula's corruption conviction. Lula will be ineligible for this year's Presidential election.

Hong Kong has been finger pointed by US Under Secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Sigal Mandelker for violating sanctions against North Korea due to the use of Hong Kong-based shell companies and oil trade using Hong Kong registered ships.

The Saudi crackdown on corruption led by the new King will yield USD100bn and will likely give the economy a welcome shot in the arm.

South Korean crypto mania is earning the regulator's concern with anonymous bank accounts banned for trading starting on January 30th. The news pushed down the price of bitcoin in South Korea.

Singapore will be reviewing its anti-corruption laws as the country's image took a knock with fraud scandals especially in light of the Keppel O&M issues.

The acquisition of Sky by Rupert Murdoch for around USD15bn would increase Murdoch's influence on information and the Competition and Markets Authority said it would be against public interest.

Speaking in Davos, the Vice Chair of the China Securities Regulatory Commission assured that the financial regulators have learned from the US lessons during the financial crisis and will move swiftly to avert panic in case of a small bank collapse in China.

The Internal Revenue Service has confirmed its intention of using its powers to advise the US State Department to deny application or revoke passports of certain persons for unpaid taxes. The powers will start be used as from January 2018.

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs confirmed that estate agents are being fined with the figures not being disclosed but believed to be between six and seven figures for failures in complying with anti-money-laundering and anti-tax-evasion legislation.

Dinh La Thang, sentenced to  13 years and Trinh Xuan Thanh sentenced to life in prison for both violating state regulations and embezzlement.

Their sentencing were in relation to the trial of 22 persons around state oil and gas group PetroVietnam’s losses of 119 billion dong ($5 million).

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank was fined about USD72 m for offering credit to bogus firms for around 77.5 billion yuan; local regulators and staff of the bank were also punished.

The operators will be sued by the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission for defrauding customers and breaching commodities trading rules.

The case related to a financial product which the tax authorities believed was a tax avoidance scheme but the financial regulators may investigate and re-file the case.

The IMF warned of the risk of a correction in light of inflation and already very low unemployment rates in the US leading to a stronger dollar and weaker equities.

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The view was echoed by insurance giant Prudential.

HSBC Holdings plc to pay USD100m on charges that it defrauded two clients a front-running scheme. HSBC also entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the US authorities. 

MetLife and the US Government have agreed to dismiss an appeal on the designation of MetLife as too-big-to-fail. The decision leaves Prudential Financial Inc as the only SIFI within the insurance industry.

With Prime Minister Andrej Babis under corruption allegations, the minority government has resigned putting the country in chaos.

EY's state of Global Banking Outlook 2018 reports that banks believe that fintech is a bigger risk that regulation.

The US Federal Reserve Bank has fined Mega Bank USD29m for anti-money laundering failure and requiring the bank to improve its controls.

The Financial Services Commission has announced the appointment of a new Chairman in Dr Renganaden Padayachy, who also holds the role of First Deputy Governor at the Bank of Mauritius. Dr Padayachy replaces Mr Dev Manraj following the latter's move as a director of the newly created Economic Development Board.

China Securities Regulatory Commission Vice Chairman said that fintech should support the wider economy; the statement comes in line with the Chinese view that financial stability is a key policy objective.

Initial Coin Offerings were outlawed in China last year.

Senior officer of the IMF speaking at a conference echoed the World Bank's view that the risk of a bubble is increasing due to prices of shares being valued too high which reached incidentally reached the highs seen before the dotcom bubble in 2000 and the 1929 Crash.

Prior to this year's World Economic Forum meeting there is an interesting article on Financial Crime and especially the issues that it raises from a social and human perspective i.e. talking about the human element while advocating the use of technology to tackle the crime.

TEVA, Israel-based pharmaceutical company, has agreed to settle a probe by the State of Israel after settling with the for bribery violations in the US for USD519m.

Reserve Bank of India's deputy governor intimated banks to adopt more robust risk management controls in treasury as banks should not rely on the regulator to manage their interest rate risks. Indian sovereign bonds and the rupee tumbled, after the warning, with bonds rout extending into six months.

Germany's Bundesbank says that cryptocurrencies must be regulated globally as the only way to achieve effective regulation.

PT Bank Maybank Indonesia has surrendered its banking licence following its announced departure from Mauritius. The bank was formerly known as BANK INTERNASIONAL INDONESIA TBK PT has ceased operations.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission will prioritise supervision of shadow banking and interbank activities.

The focus will be on corporate governance, risk management as well as the root causes of market chaos with increasing fines.

Coming through Forbes, a Moody's note to clients says that MiFID II will likely create more passive funds will be cheaper as well as create competition and drive asset management industry consolidation.

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The MiFID II disclosure requirements will allow investors to understand costs and charges better.

South Korea has asked the World Trade Organisation's permission to impose USD700m trade sanctions on the USA claiming that the USA had failed to meet a ruling by the WTO in relation to duties on appliances made by Samsung, Daewoo and LG.

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Trade tensions are also rising with Vietnam and India.

Four Nigerian insurance companies will need to increase capital to be in line with risk-based supervision of the National Insurance Commission of Nigeria which has propped up the minimum capital requirements of insurance companies. The companies are Royal Exchange Prudential Life, International Energy Insurance Plc, Guinea Insurance Plc and Goldlink Insurance. The amount of own funds needed is NGN14.8bn.

The Bank of Mauritius has issued its Guideline on the issue of commercial paper based authority of Section 50 of the Bank of Mauritius Act and Sections 14E and 100 of the Banking Act.

The Guideline allows Companies, which have been in existence for more than 5 years and having net assets of more than MUR300m in preceding year among other criteria, to issue commercial papers of not more than 364 days.

The FSC has announced the surrender of the licence of Lixa Asset Management's investment adviser licence.

The Brazilian securities regulator has warned local funds against investments in cryptocurrencies/Bitcoins, becoming the latest regulator to do so.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said that it would propose for a faster change to capital rules especially Basel III rules relating to how a bank would measure asset risk with its own models.

Bulgarian members of Parliament have not made any changes to the anti-corruption bill vetoed by the President of Bulgaria making it mandatory for signature. The country is currently Presiding the EU under the rotating presidency policy and is abiding with EU requirements.

S&P lowered Brazil's long-term rating to further junk status at BB- given the slow structural changes and the level of uncertainty and Presidential elections in 2018. The short term rating remained unchanged.

The Competition Commission of India imposed INR1.35bn crore penalty on Nair Coal Services, Karam Chand Thapar & Bros (CS) and Naresh Kumar & Co in rigging bids and forming "hard core cartel" with respect to tenders floated by Maharashtra State Power Generation Company following plaint in 2013.

The European Union's Payment Services Directive 2 comes into force on 13 January 2018. The main effect is the  lifting of additional fees for online payment via credit card or bank transfer. The other effect is the access to a customer's bank account information by third parties and online vendors will be able to charge money directly from a buyer's account.

The Chinese Forex regulator has denied rumours that China is buying less US Treasury. Chinese holdings had increased year on year.

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PwC was banned by Securities and Exchange Board of India from auditing listed companies citing the Satyam scam nearly 10 years ago. SEBI also ordered 2 ex-Partners and Price Waterhouse, Bangalore to forfeit around USD2million.

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office has fined Carphone Warehouse GBP400k over a 2015 data hack as the company was using outdated software and failed to carry out routine security testing. Hackers had stolen credit card details for more than 18,000 persons.

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Australia dropping in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has likely meant a loss of AUD72 bn since 2012 when Australia was ranked 7 (now 13) on the CPI.

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Bloomberg has issued its global risk briefing for 2018. Not all countries are included.

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The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has published a letter to CEO's of Contract For Differences providers. Letter refers to review  conducted last year. The review highlights that 76% of retail customers made a loss and other issues include the need to provide better oversight of their service provision and to ensure that portfolios and advice are appropriate for clients.

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Survey on culture and compliance of more than 2 million employees by Gartner shows that the perception of improved conduct by employees has only increased by 1% thereby concluding that culture and conduct initiatives have not been efficient.

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South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has announced the setting up of a commission to look into state corruption following court ruling giving 30 days to set up the commission. The Chief Justice of South Africa has chosen Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to head the commission.

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China revealed that around 159,000 persons were punished in more than 120,000 cases of corruption. A recent poll showed that Chinese were generally happy with the work of the anti-corruption authority.

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The Enforcement Directorate in India has attached INR4.72 billion in the PACL ponzi scam which allegedly duped investors for around INR5.5bn.

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Singapore Government related Keppel Corporation's subsidiary has agreed to settle charges in Brazil, USA and Singapore of around USD422m in relation to bribery and graft charges in relation of Petrobras, Brasil.

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Finmeccanica executives of its helicopter unit AgustaWestland were cleared of corruption charges, due to lack of proof by Italy's highest Court in a retrial following guilty verdicts on corruption charges related to EUR560 million for the purchase of helicopters by the Indian government.

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Neil Danziger has been banned from financial services and fined GBP250k for manipulating the Yen LIBOR submissions when he was at RBS.

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The Office of the Comptroller of Currency has fined Citigroup Inc. around USD70m for failing to implement actions required in its 2012 consent order relating to Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering offences.

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Roberto Borge, ex-governor of the southern Mexican state of Quintana Roo, will be extradited from Panama to Mexico to face trial over the sale of state owned land for millions of dollars.

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Ex Ministers Walter Mzembi and Samuel Undenge were arrested on alleged corruption.

In addition, other former ministers Ignatious Chombo, Walter Chidhakwa and Makhosini Hlongwane also face corruption charges. They were all part of Robert Mugabe's cabinet.

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Lalu Prasad Yadav has been sentenced to 3.5 years jail and fined INR1m in a fodder scam case involving fraudulent withdrawal 21 years ago. The case follows another sentence involving fodder scam. Yadav is also accused in other fodder scam cases.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has ordered banks to ensure that they can only act as intermediaries when arranging for entrusted loans, companies providing finance to each other. The move is in line with President Xi's combat against excessive leveraging.

Three UK insurance executives have been fined for illegally obtaining banking information on a businessman they were investigating. The conviction is a first following an inquiry by the Information Commissioner’s Office into the use of private detectives for illegally obtaining private information.

The Competition Commission of Singapore on Friday fined electronics parts makers Panasonic Industrial Devices Singapore and Panasonic Industrial Devices Malaysia, Rubycon Singapore, Singapore Chemi-con (SCC), Nichicon Singapore, and ELNA Electronics a total of SGD9.5 million for price-fixing and other cartel activities.

Western Union has been found to have failed to maintain an effective and compliant AML program and exercise reasonable supervision over its agents to ensure compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations. The fine is of USD60 million and comes after the 2017 fines of USD586m.

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The case revolves around whether PwC should have detected fraud of such a massive scale. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has sued PwC over its role in the audit of the accounts of Colonial bank's parent company declaring that PwC should have been able to detect massive fraud.

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Turkish Halkbank executive Mehmet Hakan Atilla has been found guilty of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions. Halkbank is majority owned by Turkey's government and has strained relations between the US and Turkey while tainting Turkey's President 

The coordinated approach of Chinese regulators ​to crack down on over leveraging is gaining pace with new rules on bond trading in line with President Xi's declarations.

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The FATF report highlights Mexico's low levels of confiscation and prosecution. The details of the report were leaked last year. The Government of Mexico has vowed to fight money laundering in a press statement.

New rules on beneficial ownership exchange of information on companies, trusts etc with tax authorities have come into force in the EU. The rules are to help aid tax authorities to tackle tax evasion and money laundering.

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People's Bank of China conducted open market operations which drained RMB10bn from the financial system. This comes after President Xi's comments of prudent economic financial policies for 2018.

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A special court appointed to look at the 2G spectrum allocation scam in India has acquitted the accuseds. Prosecution in the largest bribery scandal in India failed to prove material aspects of the case. Likely to be an appeal.

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Switzerland's FINMA's actions relate to Malaysia's 1MDB scandal where JPMorgan’s Swiss unit did not question "neither the economic purpose of the transactions, the procedure involved, nor the substantial amount that remained in the personal account".

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FINMA also pointed out that JPMorgan Chase’s Swiss subsidiary “seriously breached” anti-money laundering rules and will closely monitor the bank.

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The Office for Professional Body AML Supervision (OPBAS)  will oversee the 22 accountancy and legal professional body AML supervisors in the UK. OPBAS will work within the FCA.

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Danske bank has been fined USD2m for money laundering lapses and is conducting investigations into possible issues in its Latvian and Lithuanian units.

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A former sales executive of Brazil's aircaft manufacturer Embraer pleaded guilty under the FCPA following a 2015 deferred prosecution agreement in relation to bribery for the sale of planes to Saudi Arabia's national oil company.

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The US government has issued new sanctions against 13 persons in relation to human rights abuse and corruption.​ 39 entities also had their assets seized and/or blocked.

With no assets from Gazprom in Lithuania, the government will seek to recover fines from assets in other countries. The fines amount to EUR42m.

Paulo Maluf was convicted of corruption in May by the Supreme Court for bribes worth USD170m and was also previously sentenced in Paris for 3 years and EUR200k fine for money laundering.

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Former executives of giants Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA will stand trial over aggravated international corruption for a Nigerian Oil block deal worth USD1.1bn by an Italian court. The trial is touted as the biggest international bribery case.

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today has blacklisted 5 additional persons under the Magnitsky Act bringing the total to 49. The names are Chechen Leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Ayub Kataev for killing and torture as well as Andrei Pavlov, Yulia Mayorova and Alexei Sheshenya for being involved in the affair uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky.

Chinese policy makers have identified the sustainable development of the financial and real estate sectors and avoiding unexpected risks as priorities for 2018 to preserve economic stability.

Wolter-Kluwers annual survey of US banks indicated that risk management concerns rose from 2016 figures by 13% with Cybersecurity and data security top and followed by IT risk and regulatory risk.

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The French Competition regulator Autorite de la Concurrence has fined Johnson and Johnson EUR25m for delaying tactics to the market introduction of a generic version of its pain killer.

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Survey of 3.6 million British companies shows that a third are at risk of insolvency; up from 25% last quarter. The figures are in line with the record number of people now registered as insolvent.

Steinhoff is said to be losing credit lines as accounting scandal deepens. It is also facing legal challenges in several countries whilst it has appointed a new CEO. The extent of debt is unknown but is likely around USD20bn.

The Federal Cartel Office of Germany says Facebook uses information on user behaviour to drive up revenue but users do not appear to have consented on how the data is used.

The whistleblower lawsuit filed by two doctors against two physician groups led to settlement of USD33 million to avoid going to court following fraud against government.

The FATF draft report highlights that Mexico has been failing to tackle its rampant drugs problems and that certain government agencies are understaffed in their fight against money laundering. The report also highlights that Mexico has low prosecution, low seizures and few convictions.

Monetary Authority of Singapore has banned a banker jailed following 1MDB scandal from any financial services industry involvement Financial regulator the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) handed the punishment to

The 1MDB scandal has involved Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Authorities in Slovenia and Croatia have arrested 11 persons connected to illegal betting platforms which have helped in corruption in sports including fixing football matches.

Moody's issued a short reaction on South Africa's ANC leadership change. While it views businessman Ramaphosa as being pro market the short victory over Dlamini-Zuma may still make reforms complicated.

Ramaphosa beat Dlamini-Zuma by only 179 votes.

The Open Banking rules aligned with the EU's Payment Services Directive 2 deadline will be missed by HSBC, Barclays, RBS, Santander and Bank of Ireland. These banks will be expected to comply in time.

Chinese Government ministries and People’s Bank of China have issued rules which prevent the illegal acquisition of foreign currency, transferring assets or money laundering in the name of foreign investment.

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Private companies are also required to seek approval before parking funds outside of China. The rules also require greater supervision of fund or equity transfer, financing, reinvestment and guarantees.

The claim by the Nigerian government, which accuses JP Morgan of being grossly negligent, is of USD875 million and relates to transfer of funds to companies controlled by former oil minister Dan Etete previously convicted of money laundering by French courts.

The OECD has praised Lithuania in its efforts to introducing adequate money laundering legislation but has recommended better enforcement of the rules.

Japan's USD80bn Maglev project is hit by a bid-rigging investigation involving some of the largest Japanese construction companies. Police has raided the companies and confiscated materials.

The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés has ordered WhatsApp to pay particular attention to obtaining users’ consent.

The CNIL required WhatsApp follow French data protection laws when sharing user data with parent company Facebook.

The EU Parliament has agreed on a certain number of measures to combat money laundering including regulating cryptocurrencies and tax evasion while also proposing stricter controls on pre-paid cards, and as reported on Friday, disclosure of beneficial ownership of trusts and companies.

After various corruption probes including a probe at its offices, Airbus's COO will step down in 2018 and its CEO will not seek reappointment in 2019.

Survey conducted of insurers and brokers that there is an increase in cyber insurance uptake directly linked to the coming into force of GDPR in May 2018 with the likelihood that claims will shoot up.

 Alexei Ulyukayev was tried in a Moscow court for extortion on Rosneft to approve purchase of another firm. The trial also saw Rosneft boss Igor Sechin not appearing even when called as a witness.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is subject to impeachment proceedings following allegations that he received bribes of more than $4 million from the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.

 South African accountant has been arrested on suspicion of stealing ZAR460m from her employer using her defunct husband's account.

The European Central Bank was one of a number of central banks in meeting this week. Following the Fed's raise in target rates by 1/4 percent, the ECB maintained rates while forecasting growth but would be however open to intervention if economic conditions not so good.

Bitfinex, Hong Kong based largest Bitcoin exchange, announced that it was the subject of a large DDOS attack but is now back to normal.

EP approves of beneficial ownership registers of companies, foundations, trusts and similar legal arrangements, will look at lawyers and accountants who aid aggressive tax planning, definition of what constitutes an offshore financial centre, tax haven, secrecy haven, non-cooperative tax jurisdiction and high-risk country and penalties to financial institutions who aid in tax evasion.

Cyprus bank FMBE Bank used Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and Raiffeisen as correspondent banks to clear hundred of millions of dollars likely to be from illicit or Russian sources.

Gibraltar's financial regulator is said to be the first to issue bespoke blockchain licence.

The US Fed issued the FOMC meeting minutes with the Committee deciding to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1-1/4 to 1‑1/2 percent on better outlook for 2018.

The Reserve Bank of India has fined three banks IndusInd, Yes Bank and IDFC a total of INR110m for failures in 

deficiencies found in complying to rules relating to loans and advances.

Jorge Glas, who was suspended from his functions pre-trial, has been sentenced to six years after having been found guilty of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.

A group of Russian speaking hackers have stolen more than USD10m from various banks in the past 2 years allegedly using innovative means such as fileless malware.

The Bank of Mauritius will have Mr Yandraduth Googoolye as the next Governor, currently First Deputy Governor, with Dr Renganaden Padayachy as the new First Deputy Governor and Mr Vikram Punchoo continuing as second deputy governor.

The AUSTRAC has revealed around 100 new issues with Commonwealth Bank of Australia taking the total to 53,800 contraventions.

STEP reports that the Department of Justice in the US will likely increase ten-fold the amount of penalties in relation to offshore tax evasion. The new penalty regime will be based on undeclared funds rather than undeclared/unpaid tax.

Moody's investor services raises the alarm in relation to the US proposed tax plan as it would likely put nearly a third of junk rated companies at risk due to the limitation on tax deductibility of interest under both the Senate and House proposed bills.

Report in Scottish press that the Russian Laundromat scheme also paid funds into a Scottish shell company.

For the 20 years of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, the OECD has released a report on the Detection of Foreign Bribery. The report highlights the important role of whistleblowers, however most of the adhering countries still do not provide satisfactory protection to them, and tax authorities sharing information with law enforcement authorities. 

AIG the US insurer is using a scoring system that helps analyse the risk of a company being attacked to determine its cyber risk as more companies pay to insure against cyber risk.

The EU has issued its criteria for assessing adequacy of third countries in relation to the GDPR. The rules main tenets are the content of the law of the third country and the enforcement of such rules.

With the GDPR coming into place it is a valid question to ask whether countries which previously had adequate rules would still fulfill the requirements.

With the digital age and new forms of communications, there is a requirement for banks and other financial institutions to have appropriate governance in their communication strategy and channels.

The OECD has issued a paper discussing the increasing role insurance has to play in cyber security. Insurers are expected to  provide clearer guidance on what cyber issues are covered by insurance.

Announced in September 2017, SWIFT's security requirements will be enhanced as from 01 January These will require security controls some of which are mandatory and others advisory. The controls include incident response, training, multi-factor authentication and anomalous behavior detection. 

The Chinese securities regulator is investigating at least 10 firms in connection with market manipulation and other market offences in relation to the Hong Kong - Shanghai markets in the booming private wealth management space. 

United Kingdom's Home Secretary has announced plans to create a National Economic Crime Centre to tackle the estimated GBP90bn of economic crime in the UK which spans from white collar crime and money laundering.

During anti-corruption day event, Debbie Palmer, Head of Office of UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) Nigeria, this was the amount that was allegedly lost to corruption during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

HSBC's deferred prosecution agreement has expired following agreement with the US Department of Justice. The agreement came into effect following what were seen as some of the largest fines in the bank's history and related mostly to AML/CFT. The bank however faces further fines in relation to toxic mortgages in the US and links to South Africa's Gupta.

Moneyval's report on the desk review of the AML investigative authority of the Vatican has noted that whilst there has been freezing of assets there has been no confiscation order and recommends that cases be pursued.

The Australian Parliament has passed AML law which extends the purview to cryptocurrencies exchanges. These exchanges are now required to report to AUSTRAC, the transactions reporting authority.

This ICSA report on governance in 2017 has shown that 2017 was a difficult year for governance with sexual misconduct, Barclay's whistle blower issue and the London Stock Exchange being issues having made the headlines.

The International Monetary Fund concluded its Article IV report (without a meeting). The report focuses on the lack of effectiveness of monetary policy in Mauritius and recommends more clarity on the monetary policy objectives of the Bank of Mauritius. In addition, the changes in the India Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and the increasing international norms around tax evasion as well as the status of GBC2s and deemed foreign tax credit were analysed.

The new Data Protection Act has been adopted in the National Assembly in Mauritius with amendments. The Act comes into play with the EU GDPR being enforceable as from end of May 2018.

China's banking regulator, the China Banking Regulatory Commission fined China Guangfa Bank CNY 722 million (around USD109 million) for lax controls, issuing fake guarantees and hiding bad assets.

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The Gartner survey says that threats, regulations and service provider awareness are key factors for influencing expenditure on information security representing a 7% increase from 2017. The lack of expertise is also a concern for businesses leading to more outsourcing.

The price of the Steinhoff bonds have fallen around 80% in a week and Moody's has downgraded the bond to junk in the wake of an accounting scandal that has seen the CEO step down.

EU regulators are looking at ways at minimising the issues that will come with a 'messy' Brexit as London's role as the largest asset management hub in Europe becomes an issue.

Following the EU 4th Money Laundering Directive and the coming into force of new money laundering regulations in the UK, the Financial Reporting Council has issued guidance on the role of statutory auditors in relation to reporting ML cases and how not to be complicit to acts of concealment of money laundering crimes.

Importantly materiality should not weigh on decision to report suspicious transactions.

BoM analysis showed that the economy was doing relatively better as well as private investment; but highlights importance of productivity and modernisation of financial markets. Governor also made announcement of National Payment Switch by May 2018. Main concern remains the export sector.

Brazil's main petroleum company has recovered USD200m which were used in the Car Wash corruption probe which showed systemic corruption in the country to which Petrobras was at the centre. Petrobras has to date recovered USD480m.

The agreed reforms include standardised approach for credit risk, revisions to the internal ratings-based approach for credit risk, revisions to the credit valuation adjustment framework, a revised standardised approach for operational risk, Tier 1 capital buffer set at 50% of a G-SIB's risk-weighted capital buffer and

RWAs generated by internal models not to be lower than 72.5% of RWAs as calculated by the Basel III framework's standardised approaches.

Banks will also be required to disclose their RWAs based on these standardised approaches.

The US Government Accountability Office has released a report which found that the US Fed has not implemented its ERM which may have led to regulatory capture especially when a regulator acts in service of the regulated industry at the expense of the public interest and are therefore not independent.

The Luxemburg parliament has introduced new laws to tackle information on beneficial owners and on trusts in line with the EU Anti Money Laundering Directive.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Dubai Financial Services Authority will collaborate to facilitate financial innovation, refer each other innovative businesses, and work on information sharing and joint innovation projects.

BoM's First Deputy Governor reinforced need for cooperation among law enforcement agencies in Mauritius.

He also mentioned the importance of robust risk based approach, culture and mind-set within an organisation and emphasising tone from the top.

Rising debt levels is increasing financial instability risk. IMF suggests increasing bank capital given the complexity of the system and the concerns around shadow banking. Chinese authorities are already working on systemic risks and more practical prudential regulations.

Industry self-regulator has issued a report on its findings during compliance inspections of broker members. The observations included issues in policies and procedures at members.

OECD study shows weak productivity growth in most societies. “Zombie Firms” prevalence closely linked to weakness in the banking system and insolvency regimes.

There is a need to balance weak productivity, financial stability and the social cost of churning unproductive firms and jobs

FCA has fined Bluefin, then a subsidiary of AXA of misleading investors by misrepresenting its independence in relation to products.

The EU has performed the first review of he Privacy Shield with the US, which has replaced the Safe Harbour. The EU has recommended various actions to be taken to ensure adherence to the high level of data protection in place in the EU.

The UK's Public Accounts Committee has identified online fraud as the biggest source of crime in the country and that the Home Office cannot cope with the level of resources at its disposal. Online fraud is estimated at GBP10 bn with an estimated 2 million cases.

Bitcoin has hit USD14k today for the first time rising nearly USD2k in a day. Probably fueled by the proposed futures market in the US - despite regulatory threats in UK and US. The YTD gain is more than 1300%.

The Council of the EU has issued its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions on 05 December 2017. The awaited list contains 17 countries which are considered as non-cooperative ('black list') and 47 other countries having committed to address issues in their tax framework ('grey list').

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The list does not include EU countries with harmful tax practices and has temporarily excluded the countries that have been recently subject to devastating cyclones in the Atlantic.

The latest report issued by the FSB shows that market risk has been in the 'high risk' for the last three quarters ending with Q2 2017 meaning that there is increasing vulnerability in the markets. Macro risk has deteriorated but remains relatively low. Credit risk has remained medium.

Financial institutions can opt to participate in FinCEN's information sharing programme which includes other law enforcement agencies and participate in briefings. Information requests and sharing will be under the Patriot Act or other laws/autorities. FinCEN will also convene briefings to deal with investigations and typologies.

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Also included is the speech (click link) before the American Bankers Association and American Bar Association by US Treasury Under Secretary.

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Australia will be passing laws that emulate UK and US laws to curb corporate crimes in Australia which have been estimated to cost more than AUD 8 billion a year. New law is aimed at preventing foreign bribery and make investigations simpler.

BBC reports that Venezuela has will issue a new virtual currency named the Petro which will be backed by the country's assets including oil, gold, gas and diamond wealth. No definite details were offered on the new currency.

Coming from Bloomberg - Autorite des Marches Financiers Chairman Ophele has labeled Bitcoin a dangerous illusion joining the chorus of regulators warning about Bitcoin since the cryptocurrency has been increasing in value.

The former United States House of Representative from Florida Corrine Brown has been sentenced to 5 years in prison following sentencing in a conspiracy and fraud scheme.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a halt notice to Dominic Lacroix and PlexCorps for alleged fraud and touting a cryptocurrency capable of providing 13 times return within a month.

​Kenyan authorities have arrested three brokers from peer-to-peer broker platform for having used stolen funds from a bank to purchase bitcoins

Maltese authorities made ten arrests in relation to the investigation of murder of Maltese journalist who has been investigating corruption in the country.

The Competition Commission of India has fined Monsanto for delays in replying to queries raised from investigation which started 1 year ago.

The new Data Protection Bill goes into the National Assembly this week.

The DP Bill is essential to the outsourcing and financial services industry especially with regards to the GDPR. It will repeal the existing Data Protection Act.

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The other legislations are the Higher Education Bill and the Additional Remuneration being introduced.

National Cyber Security Centre of the UK has warned of the use of Russian anti-virus on UK government systems.

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The Moscow Exchange has announced that it intends to allow the trade of Bitcoin amid confusion that the Russian Central Bank was not happy with the decision.

The news comes after Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group announced December 18 trading (click on link for article) of Bitcoin Futures and Commodity Futures Trading Commission announcing trading.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a video of the expected use of Legal Entity Identifiers under the MiFID II and EMIR rules.

A US Navy Commander has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for involvement in a USD35million bribery scandal which involves a Malaysian National known as 'Fat Leonard'.

Swiss banks have been submitting increasing number of suspicious reports to the authorities following crackdown on corruption in Saudi Arabia.

A MiFID survey says that banks are investing USD20bn for compliance. Fixed income traders complaining of being less effective at servicing clients.

PM May has raised the issue of beneficial ownership and the EU blacklist with British Overseas Territories representatives. May allegedly said that she would not impose beneficial ownership rules if they do not become international standards.

Police in Japan has revealed that 170 cases of cryptocurrency money laundering have been reported in the six months ending September 2017. Previous uses of cryptocurrency in crimes have been related to child porn and drugs.

US - Manhattan court trial over money laundering claims Turkey's President Erdogan to be involved in the issue and is seen as a strain over Turkey-US relations.

The UK's Serious Fraud Office has arrested 2 more persons in the Unaoil bribery case including Unaoil's owner's son.

Venezuela's military has arrested the former minister of oil and Venezuela's oil company's executive for bribery after they have been axed from their job by President Maduro.

Russian Seleznev has been sentenced to 14 years for USD50m hacking and will serve the sentence concurrently to 27 years sentence he is already serving for point of sale hacking for which reaped nearly USD170m.

Randal Quarles who overlooks wall street as regulator says bitcoin provides systemic risk and could be dangerous to the financial system.

BoM has kept the Key Repo rate fixed based on improving economic activity with main trading partners and major economies. Headline inflation is expected at 3.6% for 2017 and Real GDP growth is maintained at 3.8%.

The Department of Justice has extended the leniency afforded to firms when disclosing bribes paid by employees to foreign officials the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The Ethics Institute survey of South Africa has published its annual corruption survey. Traffic offences produce the most bribes (average ZAR205), the average value of a bribe is at ZAR1,550, Bribes for tenders average ZAR82,282.

Turkish businessman reveals how he helped launder USD50m from Iran in breach of sanctions through Turkish banks at trial of Turkish banker.

Additional news link.

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Australian banks will be facing wide spread probes after string of scandals. PM Turnbull made the announcement in Parliament. AUD8 billiion was wiped out of big lenders market value on early Sydney trading.

Concerted actions in 26 EU countries has led to 159 arrests and 766 money mules identified in the EU during the week of 20-24 November. 59 recruiters/organisers were identified.

Saudi Arabia's corruption crack down sees Prince Mitteb (former Minister) being released after USD1 billion deal.

China cracking on lending platforms with the fear that consumer loans were being used to fuel a bubble in the housing market.

ECB's Financial Stability Review:

Euro area stability has evolved positively in last six month.

ECB warns of 'financial asset market corrections'.

Euro Area systemic stress indicators remain low.

Bloomberg discussing the risk of government shutdown in the US if no agreement is reached with Democrats by December 2018.

Survey on supervision of investment firms’ compliance functions focused on risk assessments, monitoring of compliance obligations, reporting to senior management and fulfilling their advisory role.

Significant weaknesses were identified in the supervisory approaches of Cyprus, Iceland and the Netherlands.